Hockey Stick And Method Of Use

ABSTRACT

A hockey stick for improving puck control and striking includes an elongate handle, which is graspable in hands of a user. A blade is engaged to and extends from a lower end of the elongate handle. The blade is bifurcated distal from the elongate handle, thus defining a conjoined portion, a first element, and a second element of the blade. The conjoined portion and the first element define a first outer face of the blade. The conjoined portion and the second element define a second outer face of the blade. Both the first outer face and the second outer face are arcuate. The first outer face and the second outer face enhance contact of the blade with a puck to improve control and striking of the puck with the blade.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to hockey sticks and more particularly pertains to a new hockey stick for improving puck control and striking. The present invention discloses a hockey stick with a bifurcated blade having concavely arcuate forehand and backhand puck striking surfaces.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to hockey sticks. Prior art hockey sticks may comprise hockey sticks having bifurcated blades, and blades with protrusions on their backhand sides distal from their handles. While these prior art hockey sticks help to retain a puck in contact with the backhand sides of the blades, the backhand sides are still substantially planar surface. What is lacking in the prior art is a hockey stick comprising a hockey stick with a bifurcated blade having concavely arcuate forehand and backhand puck striking surfaces.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an elongate handle, which is configured to be grasped in hands of a user. A blade is engaged to and extends from a lower end of the elongate handle. The blade is bifurcated distal from the elongate handle, thus defining a conjoined portion, a first element, and a second element of the blade. The conjoined portion and the first element define a first outer face of the blade. The conjoined portion and the second element define a second outer face of the blade. Both the first outer face and the second outer face are arcuate. The first outer face and the second outer face are configured to enhance contact of the blade with a puck to improve control and striking of the puck with the blade.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric perspective view of a hockey stick according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for a method utilizing an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 thereof, a new hockey stick embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6 , the hockey stick 10 generally comprises an elongate handle 12, which is configured to be grasped in hands of a user. A blade 14 is engaged to and extends from a lower end 16 of the elongate handle 12. The blade 14 is bifurcated distal from the elongate handle 12, thus defining a conjoined portion 18, a first element 20, and a second element 22 of the blade 14.

The conjoined portion 18 and the first element 20 define a first outer face 24 of the blade 14. The conjoined portion 18 and the second element 22 define a second outer face 26 of the blade 14. Both the first outer face 24 and the second outer face 26 are arcuate. The first outer face 24 and the second outer face 26 are used for forehand and backhand striking of a puck, respectively. The first outer face 24 and the second outer face 26 are configured to enhance contact of the blade 14 with a puck to improve control and striking of the puck with the blade 14. The blades of prior art of hockey sticks are arcuate and thus have a substantially concave (forehand) face and a substantially convex (backhand) face, making backhand striking substantially more challenging than forehand striking.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5 , the hockey stick 10 is designed for use by a right-handed user. It would be obvious to those skilled in the art of hockey sticks to utilize a mirror image of the hockey stick 10 for a left-handed user, and this is anticipated by the present invention.

The first element 20 may be dimensionally longer than the second element 22, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 . As the second outer face 26 is used for a backhand strike on the puck, and the backswing for a backhand strike is shorter than a backswing for a forehand strike, the second outer face 26 does not need to be as large as the first outer face 24. By the same reasoning, the second outer face 26 also may be less arcuate than the first outer face 24, as shown in FIG. 2 .

The hockey stick 10 enables a method 28 for improving control and striking of a puck with a blade 14 of a hockey stick. The method 28 comprises a first step 30 of providing to a user a hockey stick 10 according to the specification above. A second step 32 of the method 28 is grasping of the elongate handle 12 in hands of the user. A third step 34 of the method 28 is accepting a puck onto a respective one of the first outer face 24 and the second outer face 26. A fourth step 36 of the method 28 is striking the puck with the respective one of the first outer face 24 and the second outer face 26.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

I claim:
 1. A hockey stick comprising: an elongate handle configured for grasping in hands of a user; and a blade engaged to and extending from a lower end of the elongate handle, the blade being bifurcated distal from the elongate handle defining a conjoined portion, a first element, and a second element of the blade, the conjoined portion and the first element defining a first outer face of the blade, the conjoined portion and the second element defining a second outer face of the blade, and the first outer face and the second outer face being arcuate, wherein the first outer face and the second outer face are configured for enhancing contact of the blade with a puck for improving control and striking of the puck with the blade.
 2. The hockey stick of claim 1, wherein the first element is dimensionally longer than the second element.
 3. The hockey stick of claim 1, wherein the second outer face is less arcuate than the first outer face.
 4. A method for improving control and striking of a puck with a blade of a hockey stick, the method comprising the steps of: providing to a user a hockey stick comprising: an elongate handle, and a blade engaged to and extending from a lower end of the elongate handle, the blade being bifurcated distal from the elongate handle defining a conjoined portion, a first element, and a second element of the blade, the conjoined portion and the first element defining a first outer face of the blade, the conjoined portion and the second element defining a second outer face of the blade, and the first outer face and the second outer face being arcuate; grasping of the elongate handle in hands of the user; accepting a puck onto a respective one of the first outer face and the second outer face; and striking the puck with the respective one of the first outer face and the second outer face.
 5. A hockey stick comprising: an elongate handle configured for grasping in hands of a user; and a blade engaged to and extending from a lower end of the elongate handle, the blade being bifurcated distal from the elongate handle defining a conjoined portion, a first element, and a second element of the blade, the conjoined portion and the first element defining a first outer face of the blade, the conjoined portion and the second element defining a second outer face of the blade, and the first outer face and the second outer face being arcuate, wherein the first outer face and the second outer face are configured for enhancing contact of the blade with a puck for improving control and striking of the puck with the blade, the first element being dimensionally longer than the second element, the second outer face being less arcuate than the first outer face. 